Some Captured History of Glanamman
and Garnant

A Note from the Webmaster

"Y
Garreg Fawr" on the Betws Mountain above Glanamman c.1993.
Once a well known landmark and destination for Sunday walkers.

Sometime ago, like many others nowadays, I tried tracing my family
tree. I didn't get very far with it when I discovered that my Great
Great Grandfather had died in a colliery accident back in 1884. I discovered
that he, along with nine others, had met an untimely death when the
rope holding the colliery cage broke and the cage plummeted to the bottom
of the pit. The sadness of the event struck me deeply and I was determined
to find out as much as possible about what had occurred.

I found that it was difficult enough just trying to find out where
the colliery was, with hearsay and misnomas adding to my confusion.
Eventually, piece by piece, with a great deal of help from the National
Library of Wales, Carmarthenshire Archives and from the few local people
who had heard about the disaster, I was able to put together enough
information to create a website. This website was intended as a memorial
to the poor souls who had died and to be a reference point to anyone
who had an interest in what I discovered was the Amman Valley's worst
mining disaster.

The website was successful in that people who saw it contacted me with
more information and photographs of other items of local historical
interest. Some of these items were unconnected to the colliery disaster,
but deserved to be put into the public domain because of their character
and probable rarity. Although I had no previous knowledge of the history
of Glanamman and Garnant, my naive introduction to local history has
filled me with an enthusiasm for investigating the past and an objective
to preserve some of it for others who may share the same interest.

I hope that in time, with the generous contributions that I receive
from others, as well as through my own endeavours, this website will
become an asset for the community and provide as much interest and pleasure
to others, as I have had in putting it together.